"The strangest part is that the ship never responded, as if there as nobody aboard at all."
Nadya helps Ayako and Sebastian to ask around town and when Sebatian learns that the ship didn't respond, she asks "So was it a ghost ship? How else could a ship sail itself? Usually those tales involve the ghost ships and other ships. I've never heard of one drifting in to trouble a city before. I guess its good the watch destroyed it."
You ask around town but find out little more than the wild rumors you've already heard. No call comes for you from the Field Marshall and most of the Guard has no further information to give either. The guards stationed on the wall reveal only that an order was given to fire upon a light on the water. Besides the rumors, the next two days pass uneventfully.
On the morning of the 3rd of the month, you get an early visitor in the form of Grau Soldado. Physically, he's in much better condition than the last time you met him, having shaved, bathed, and sobered up. Psychologically, though, Grau remains distressed. He in particular is looking for Ayako and requests to speak with your group in private. Once in one of your rooms, he pleas to you.
"My niece is sick. I don't know what she has and neither does anyone in Trail's End. She's broken out all over in red pocks and can barely keep down food, or even the swill that good-for-nothing herbalist gave her. Her mother's talking about going to the Bank of Abadar, but her family can't afford to pay the prices their clerics would demand. Then I remembered how you and your friends handled yourselves during the riots, and how you helped me out, and I figured you all could help. A bunch of resourceful folk like you, I'd bet if you don't already have a way to fix this you must know who can. Surely you can't just sit by while a child suffers, can you?"
She is sick? I can indeed spare time to look at her, please lead the way.
"Ayako, do you need anything to help her? We could either stop on the way of some of us could go to a temple and pick up a healing draught or scroll if you think you'll need anything."
The thought of Ayako healing anybody, especially a poor girl, makes Sebastian nervous. "Perhaps we should have Lucien come along as well."
If she has a sickness, we can purchase some antiplague. It isn't a sure-fire cure but will aid in healing.
Grau’s sister-in-law's family lives in a small community northeast of Korvosa disparagingly called Trail’s End—a slight against the number of settled Varisians in the area. Made up primarily of Varisians—with a few Shoanti and socially disaffected Chelaxians—Trail’s End is poor and reputedly dangerous, but the neighborhood feels more like a small town than any district within the city proper. The criminal element is obvious and impossible to ignore in the faces of dozens of toughs and thugs who loiter on the streets here, Sczarni brutes who call themselves the Bashwater Boys and prey exclusively upon Chelaxians and other outsiders. Knowing most city folks’ distaste for Varisia’s natives, the residents of Trail’s End return such prejudices, creating a community that thrives off Korvosan coin but reviles the city all the same.
Along the way, Grau chats with you and explains the family dynamics.
"Tayce Soldado lives here with her three children, Brienna, Charlo, and Rello. Despite being only half-blooded Varisians, Tayce’s sons have distinctly Varisian features, with unruly black hair, brown eyes, and olive skin, while Brienna takes more after her father, having a paler complexion, with light hair and freckles. Tayce and her family are well-known and quietly respected in Trail’s End, and have nothing to fear from the local Sczarni toughs. While Tayce works as a washerwoman for those in the community and several families in North Point, her children also bring in a few coins for the family—Brienna working as a maid, while Charlo and Rello work as unofficial apprentices to a wheelwright friend of the family."
"Tayce is a single mother. Her husband Bayan was murdered long ago by highwaymen. Left with three children to raise alone, Tayce dedicated her life to bringing them up right. I visit the family at least once a week to ensure that they’re safe and have everything they need. I respect and honestly like Tayce, but my visits are inspired by familial concern and fraternal obligation, not any one-sided feelings for his brother’s widow."
Only a crooked block away from the Jeggare shore, the Soldado home is a squat, two story wooden building in desperate need of repair and gardening. Overall, the building feels like the home of a family too busy living to bother with tedious chores. Inside, the house is remarkably clean and well-kept, filled with worn, well-used furniture and decorated with the crafts and scribblings of children. Tayce ceded the one bedroom to her children years ago and sleeps on a couch on the first floor. Since Brienna's illness, though, the boys have joined their mother downstairs.
When you and Grau reach Tayce's home, Charlo and Rello are playing quietly in the living room, while Tayce attends Brienna upstairs. Every few minutes, a spasm of ragged coughing fills the house from above. An acolyte, nearing thirty years old, from the Bank of Abadar is in the kitchen with a bag of herbs, brewing some concoction that smells of cinnamon and anise. Upon seeing the man still there, Grau is obviously displeased and goes upstairs to have a sternly whispered conversation with Tayce.
You can make out the gist of the conversation upstairs.
"Tayce! I told you to get that sham out of here! We can't afford racking up a bill with an expensive and worthless healer! I told you I would handle things!"
"But Grau, Brienna's dying! Every day she is getting worse! She might not make it through the week! I had to do something! She's my daughter!"
While Grau and Tayce are upstairs, the acolyte continues to attend a kettle boiling in the kitchen hearth but turns and initiates small talk with you.
"Greetings. My name is Ishani Dhatri. I'm only a low-ranking priest in the church of Abadar but I'm here to help." He nods to Lucien. "Well met, brother Lucien."
"My mother brought me to Korvosa when I was less than 10, fleeing an outbreak of scarlet leprosy in Vudra that had already claimed my father. Taking the first ship to anywhere, my mother and I found ourselves on the return journey of an Arkona expedition and have lived in Korvosa ever since. My experience in Vudra scarred me, and I have sought to help the sick ever since. I know I can't offer actual healing without seeking payment, and the use of herbal remedies and other methods of fighting illness are my way of skirting the system for folk who need my aid yet cannot afford the church’s rates."
"My greatest concern about the girl isn't that she's ill, but that I doesn’t recognize the exact combination of her symptoms—I fear that this might be a harbinger of a new disease."
"Initially, Tayce said Brienna had a headache, fatigue, coughing, and a rash and mask of blisters that covered her face. It has now progressed and the cough has becomes more obtrusive, the rash has spreads to the neck, face, and limbs and has developed into pox-like blisters, and the lymph glands have swollen into painful buboes."
Ishani sighs in frustration.
"I wish Tayce had sent for me earlier. Perhaps I could have cured the girl, but I’m afraid that my duties at the Golden One’s Vault required me to entreat him for similar miracles already this day. Even if I could, though, the tenets of my church force me to request a donation for Abadar’s power—one that I suspect these simple folk could scarcely afford."
Ayako glsnces upawards at the arguement and then nods to the priest. Pleased to meet you, I am Ayako and these are my friends Sebastion,Nadya and Lucian. We came at Grau's request to examine Brienna and see if we can help her sickness. Ayako examines the concoction the priest is working on.
I will examine the girl, perhaps we will be able to work together to heal whatever she suffers. Ayako will head upstairs when Grau returns.
As they walk, Sebastian gets caught up on the details of how the man knows them. At first he simply assumed that their fame had spread and that the prominently-displayed pseudodragon's mark gave them away, until the others explained how they had helped the man earlier. "Ah, so you are Grau Soldado. We have some common acquaintances, I believe. I am Sebastian Merrin."
Sebastian wrinkles his nose a little when he realizes where they're headed, thankful he'd started keeping most of his coin with the Bank of Abadar. Besides, they were well-armed and shouldn't have any trouble dispatching whatever thieves might be foolish enough to try to rob them.
At the house, Sebastian stands off to the side in the kitchen with his arms crossed while the healers talk shop. He doesn't understand much of what they're discussing, but he picks up some of the man's story. It's good to see evidence of how House Arkona helps people on both sides of the trade route, strengthening the city all the while. It's nauseating to hear the man bemoaning his god's copper-pinching. From his interaction with Lucien, Sebastian got the impression that not all Abadarians felt quite so strongly held to those 'tenets'. Rolling his eyes, he asks, "And just how much of a donation does Abadar require?"
"And just how much of a donation does Abadar require?"
Ishtani responds, "Exactly the proscribed amount. Not a copper more or less. Some would peg Abadarans as barbaric for being unyielding on our tenets but it is actually quite the opposite. The establishment and maintenance of law and order advances civilization so that all can achieve comfort and happiness."
"For example, I am quite capable of casting remove disease, however, were I to do so, I would be forced to charge the standard rate of 150 gold crowns for a spell of that level. If I do not, I would most likely be shunned by my church and perhaps even Abadar himself."
Ayako examines the concoction the priest is working on.
The concoction is just a simple mix of common herbs. It will probably ease Brienna's pain but is not strong enough to provide any aid in fighting off the disease.
After a few minutes, Grau and Tayce return downstairs. Nearing 40, Tayce Soldado possesses a simple beauty, scarcely hidden by her disheveled appearance and wan features—she's not slept in more than a day. Despite her personal state, her concern for her daughter drives her on and she welcomes you sincerely. "Welcome friends. I've heard many good things about you from my brother-in-law, Grau." She cups Ayako's hand with hope in her eyes. "Ayako, Grau says you are a priestess. I know nothing of how my daughter might have become so ill, as she has drifted in and out of consciousness since I discovered her this way, but please come upstairs with me to see Brienna. The rest of your friends should stay down here. I don't know if this disease is contagious."
The creaky steps open up into a bedroom loft above the main room of the Soldado home. A young girl with auburn hair lies in one of the beds, her slight frame dwarfed by the bed's size and the pile of pillows, afghans, and quilts surrounding her. Splotches of an angry red rash cover her face and arms, appearing in irregular shapes and sizes. Suddenly, her restlessness is interrupted by a violent fit of hacking coughs that jerk her entire frame, lifting her well off her pillows. The spasm passes after a moment, dropping her back to the bed, but seemingly having done little to ease her breathing.
I do have some divine talent but I must tell you beforehand that removing disease with it is not a skill I have. Ayako heads up and looks concerned at the state the girl is in. Hello Birenna, I am Ayako. Hopefully I will be able to help you.
Ayako takes out her healer's kit and begins checking the girl's vitals and mixing some concoctions to help her treatment. She also takes out the anti-plague and some mints to help remove the taste of the concoction.
Here you go, good medicine tastes bitter.
Ayako has never seen an disease like this before either. It appears to be very fast acting and Brienna is in very poor shape. Unless the disease is cured, Brienna likely only has two or three days left. Ayako's elixer may have bought her one extra day but no more.
Brienna drinks the concoction and goes into another fit of coughs before falling unconscious. Tayce looks very distraught.
This is very serious, Ayako says to the others. This disease is very fast acting and saps the life form a person. I have bought her another say but unless she can throw off the disease it will be fatal. I very much urge that we pay the priest for a divine cure.
Ayako's prognosis is dire, and Sebastian feels a twinge of sympathy. The house was small, but filled with love. As much as had happened in the last few months, Vincent's death still weighed on Sebastian, and if nothing was done, this family would suffer a loss even more tragic for it being their second. Even the priest in the kitchen was doing as much as he thought he could, and suddenly Sebastian stopped seeing him as priest. He was just a Korvosan helping fellow Korvosans, and that was how things were supposed to be. He'd spent more money on his damned jacket than it would cost to save a poor girl's life, and Sebastian realized he'd never be able to live with himself if he didn't take care of this. "What are we waiting for, then? Let's go fetch a priest."
Luckily we have one nearby, Ayako fetches Ishtani. I will pay for the miracle to heal her.
"Unfortunately, as I stated, I've already exhausted my spells for the day. However, although it breaks tradition, I can begin my meditation and prayers to my god now so that he will grant me the miracle you desire by this evening." replies Ishtani.
"I can't thank you enough for what you offering but please utilize my home while you wait. The boys would love some play pals. I haven't been able to give them any attention lately with all my focus on Brienna." says Tayce.
The Soldado family gladly chats with you the rest of the afternoon while Ishtani retires to a quiet area and prays. Brienna continues to go in an out of sleep although her coughing fits have lessened somewhat from the medicine provided by Ayako and Ishtani.
As the sun begins to set, Ishtani announces that his preparations are complete and heads upstairs to heal Brienna. Ishtani casts remove disease and Brienna's coughing fits and restlessness immediately vanish. Tayce is overwhelmed. Brienna wakes almost immediately. She's slightly befuddled by the crowd of strangers in the house and all the fuss before she asks her mother, "Is dinner ready yet?" You all immediately become Tayce's personal heroes, and she proves very animated and affectionate in her thanks and hugs each of you tightly.
"You all just must stay for dinner. It is hardly compensation but I will prepare a feast. Know that you will always be welcome in the Soldado house."
The house swiftly takes on a celebratory air. The feast proves quiet considerable and Tayce is a talented chef. Brienna is still weak and confused but she joins you all to eat.
Ayako waits while the priest prays and chats with the family, perhaps having Majenko do a few tricks to entertain the children. She suggests Nadya do some harrow readings for everyone to help pass the time.
When the priest casts his magic, Ayako breaths out as the child is healed from the disease. My deepest thanks, I would be happy to dine with everyone.
After dinner, Ishani gets up to leave. "Thank you for the dinner, Tayce. It was one of the finest meals I've eaten. But now I must take my leave and return to the church. I have other duties to attend to." He turns to the party. "You have shown me that there are still some heroes left in Korvosa. Sometimes some of my more charitable work requires the aid of those outside my church's rigid hierarchies. I'd like to ask if you would be amenable to me contacting you in the future. You can also find me at the Grand Vault of Abadar should you have any need of my god's services."
As you are getting ready to leave yourselves, Tayce thanks you again. "If there is anything else you might need, come by anytime. You will always be welcome here."
Zellara did not wish to manifest herself in front of the Soldados but once you are on your way home, she uses her empathic link to instill an urge to perform a Harrow reading in Nadya's mind.
Ayako nods to the Abadarian priest. Just leave word for us at the Three Rings Tavern. As the group heads back out onto the streets, Ayako looks at everyone. Shall we return to the inn?
You head back to the Three Rings Tavern. You pass a few people bundled in scarves on this cold winter night. They cough as they pass but otherwise don't acknowledge you. A few others warm themselves by the hearth inside the inn when you return. Theandra offers a brief greeting before you retire to your rooms.
Ayako gets a little warm cider to take the chill off. We best keep an eye on the rest of the family, there is no telling if they will become sick as well. Perhaps in the morning we should head over to talk tot he girl after she has rested, we might get an understanding about how she became sick.
You wake up the next morning and decide to return to the Soldado's House to question Brienna. When you arrive, Tayce and Brienna are home alone. The two boys are out playing unattended.
Tayce greets you. "Welcome again my friends. I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon but please come in. How can I help you this morning?"
Tayce ushers you inside her home. You can see that Brienna is already doing much better. She'll still need a few days to fully recover but the blisters on her skin have faded and her cough is no more. She plays on the couch with a toy wooden horse. When she sees you, she smiles and then resumes playing.
Ayako nods to Tacye. Good morning, we just want to speak with Brienna and hopefulyl find out how she got sick.
Ayako sits across from Brienna. It is good to see you doing so much better, We are wondering if you can help us figure out how you got sick. Ayako then asks some questions.
Where were you not long before you got sick? Did you touch any dead animals or trash that was really bad? Were you around other people who were sick? Ayako also lets others ask Brienna questions.
Brienna stops playing and her face turns pale. "I think I know." She moves close and whispers in Ayako's ear. "But you can't tell mom. She'll be mad at me." She gets up off the couch and goes into the back room. "This way."
The lighting in this back room is dark. Only a few shafts of light shine through cracks in the shoddily constructed wooden walls. Brienna shifts aside a loose floorboard to reveal a cubby hole that seems to be filled with various junk the young girl has secreted away. She retrieves a small wooden coffer engraved with numerous skulls. The box is ruined and the hinges and lock are both rusted and broken.
"I found this on the shore of the Jeggare when I was out playing the day after Foundation Day. When I found it, there were 50 silver coins inside. Can you believe it? I should have given the money to mommy. I know we are poor." Brienna looks ashamed. "But instead I went to North Point and spent it all. I think Desna cursed me for being such a selfish girl."
Ayako examines the box and uses a small stick to open it and look inside. You are not a selfish girl and Desna would never punish you by making you so sick. Ayako places the box into a sack and turns to the others. We should check with the Abadarian who was here and see if there is any trace of disease on the box. If the coins were spent, they are no doubt all over North Point by now.
Tayce and Brienna embrace you again and wish you well as you leave. As you are heading back to North Point over North Bridge a Sable Company Marine swoops down on his hippogriff and lands before you.
"Greetings to you this fine morning! I know this may seem quite unusual but I am a friend of Vencarlo Orisini. He called in a favor to ask me to find you and request that you pay him a visit at his academy this morning. I first checked for you at the Three Rings Tavern but you had already left so I began patrolling in hopes of spotting you. Luckily Sable Company Marines have good eyes. If you haven't been there before, it is on 16 Hillcrest Street in Old Korvosa. He didn't say what this was about. Actually he said it was best that I didn't know. But he said it was important."
Thank you for informing us, we will head off to see him as soon as possible. Ayako turns to the others. Well, we might be able to take a quick detour, then we can go to the temple of Abadar and see the priest about the issue with the infected money.
Lucien nods at the the Sable Company Marine and bows respectfully before chiming in. "We'll see him as soon as possible" he confirms trying not to betray his surprise. Vencarlo Orisini? Isn't he the famed swordmaster? It'll be interesting to know him personally.
As soon as the marine leave them alone, Lucien comes close to Sebastian and asks "Hey Sebastian. You know Vencarlo personally, isn't it? What kind of man he his? I suppose that he won't be willing to teach me any new swordplay technique...My sword is way too clumsy I suppose." Laughing, Lucien pats his companion on the should and turns to Ayako.
"Yes, let's go to the temple first. Sebastian will introduce ourselves to Vencarlo, while I can introduce you the Abadaran priests. This way" says Lucien as he leads his companion toward the temple.
You decide to continue on course to the temple of Abadar before following up on the request by Vencarlo. When you are arrive, things are not quite as you expected.
Towering over the surrounding buildings, the Grand Vault of Abadar offers a vision of divine luxuriance amid a sea of mortal troubles. Radiant, as its grey-veined white marble reflects the midday sun, there's little question that this place is the house of a god.
Yet, for a deity of law, the steep stairs and ramps leading up to the temple's great bronze doors offer a strangely discordant scene. Dozens of citizens—mostly of the working class, although the silks of a few merchants show through the crowd—throng the entry, scarcely being held back by a group of gold-armored Abadarian clerics. All seem intent on gaining entry to the temple, but the clerics turn away nearly all comers. The clerics' reasoning becomes clear as one desperate believer is turned away, his pitiful countenance mottled with violent red sores.
From a distance, you witness the temple guards turning away all comers who show signs of sickness. Others who have less urgent business in the temple must fight through the disease-ridden crowd and undergo the guards' brief questioning as to their purpose—twin gauntlets few healthy visitors dare to run. While the crowd remains relatively orderly in its pleading, the temple's protectors and a few Korvosan Guards gathered nearby eye the situation with unease.
If you intend to attempt to enter the temple, you must first navigate the desperate crowd.
Ayako examines the box and uses a small stick to open it and look inside. You are not a selfish girl and Desna would never punish you by making you so sick. Ayako places the box into a sack and turns to the others. We should check with the Abadarian who was here and see if there is any trace of disease on the box. If the coins were spent, they are no doubt all over North Point by now.
As they leave the house, Sebastian casts a sidelong glance at Ayako. "There's something sinister about that little box. Especially coming from a mysterious ghost ship."
"Greetings to you this fine morning! I know this may seem quite unusual but I am a friend of Vencarlo Orisini. He called in a favor to ask me to find you and request that you pay him a visit at his academy this morning. I first checked for you at the Three Rings Tavern but you had already left so I began patrolling in hopes of spotting you. Luckily Sable Company Marines have good eyes. If you haven't been there before, it is on 16 Hillcrest Street in Old Korvosa. He didn't say what this was about. Actually he said it was best that I didn't know. But he said it was important."
Sebastian jumps back at the hippogriff's sudden landing. The Sable Company sure knows how to make an entrance! Sebastian frowns at the Marine's news, curious and a little worried as to what might be going on with Orisini. "Thanks for the message. It's good to know old Orisini still has high-flyers for friends."
As soon as the marine leave them alone, Lucien comes close to Sebastian and asks "Hey Sebastian. You know Vencarlo personally, isn't it? What kind of man he his? I suppose that he won't be willing to teach me any new swordplay technique...My sword is way too clumsy I suppose."
"Hah! I think you'd not find his fencing style to your liking. You wouldn't get very far in fencing with that massive sword of yours. I'm sure there's a thing or two he could teach you to improve your technique, but he might make you pick up a rapier to do it. He's a good man, and he's forgotten more about swordsmanship than you or I will ever know."
As they arrive at the temple, the scene gives Sebastian pause. "Ayako, I think there are bigger problems to worry about than one little box." Gods, this looks bad! An outbreak of pox? Sebastian approaches a familiar face among the guards for news. "Hail! What's all this about? Rats spreading plague about town?"
The guard responds to Sebastian. "Well met. Plague? Rats? I haven't heard anything about that. We're hoping it's an isolated incidence but it does look bad, doesn't it. This whole thing just started this morning. The first sick to arrive were a barkeep and his wife from the Three Rings Tavern. They paid to be cured magically and were sent on their way. Within the next hour, though, three more sick citizens arrived, and more in the hours after that. Soon the crowd you see now had formed. I don't think the clergy are able to keep up with the demand. All nearby Guard have been called in. We're afraid that if the sick keep getting turned away, the desperate may start another riot. Your friends there," he nods at Ayako and Lucien, "best keep their distance lest they be swarmed for aid. There's no walls for you to hide behind and even the Guard won't be able to help you if that happens."
Ayako speaks to the guard in a softer tone tone. I believe we have found evidance of a source of the sickness but need confirmation from a priest here. We spoke with a Brother Ishani earlier about a case he encountered.
Ayako flexes her noodly appendages and tries getting to the temple.
When the guard brings up the Three Rings Tavern, Nadya looks worried "The Three Rings? Was it Theandra and Tauk? This is hitting close to home." At Ayako's suggestion to push through to the temple, she shakes her head, "I don't think I'm going to be able to push through. I can wait for you all out here if you want. I could try making a few of them fall asleep, but with the growing sense of panic here, that might start a riot."
Ayako forces her way through the crowd. The crowd turns its attentions to her, begging for healing and divine aid. Their eyes are desperate and they grope at her with sickly hands but Ayako pushes them away until she reaches the doors.
She tells the guards, "I believe we have found evidence of a source of the sickness but need confirmation from a priest here. We spoke with a Brother Ishani earlier about a case he encountered."
The guards reply, "Oh course, lady. Quickly get inside. It's not safe out here. Brother Ishani is probably in the main hall. You shouldn't have any trouble finding him."
They open the door a crack, just enough for Ayako to slip through, before quickly slamming it shut behind her.
Lucien looks worried at the diseased. Not again... All of his fears, his memories about his deceased wife and daughter, suddenly creep back in his mind as he shivers and shakes his head. For just a moment, as though he was searching for additional confidence, a confidence he couldn't find in himself, he clenches his fist around his holy symbol. Please, Master of the First Vault, protect them.
As soon as he sees Ayako entering the temple, Lucien frowns. He turns to his companions, Nadya and Sebastian. "I can't leave her alone there. I'll try to push my way to the temple." After informing his allies, Lucien tries to force his way through the crowd in an attempt to reach the temple's door and join Ayako. At first, he experiences some difficulties though: the gathering crowd is desperate for help, and does not seem to pay any attention to him, neither appears to be willing to let him pass. Lucien tries again, a resolute expression on his face, trying not to hurt anyone as he moves forward, and eventually he succeeds.
When he reaches the temple's door, he quickly explains to the guards "I'm with her", his eyes pointing to where Ayako just disappeared behind the doors.
_____________________
Ayako scans the hall of the temple, looking for the Abadarian and clutching the bag with the box.
The crowd recognizes Lucien as a paladin of Abadar and block his path more forcefully than Ayako. The crowd stinks of sweat and decay and those sick hack and cough on Lucien as he passes. "Please!" they beg. "Give us your mercy." Lucien resolutely continue through them and pleas for him to cure one's self or one's child cry out in his ears. The guard needs no explanation from Lucien and he is let it.
As it is unusual for someone to be let in at this point, Ishani spots Lucien and Ayako at once and approaches. The young priest looks grave as he approaches.
"Abadar must have heard my prayers. I was about to call for you myself. Please follow me. We can speak in one of the temple's western meeting rooms."
Once you are seated, he continues.
"Thank you for coming. I assume your reasons for coming is the crowd outside—poor lot. You recognize the symptoms too, I'm sure. I had hoped that the Soldado case was isolated, but apparently we have a bigger problem on our hands than I'd feared."
"I'm concerned for the city, but also for my brethren here. The morning after my visit to the Soldado home I came to the temple to hear that three of my brothers awoke with similar symptoms, although they had already been healed. I spoke to each, and aside from their usual duties in the temple, none have had any dealings with the sick. Later in the day, more of my brothers—vaultkeepers, guards, and acolytes—developed symptoms, and folk from throughout the city began arriving in search of healing. It's been more than a little bit frightening. They're calling the sickness 'blood veil.' An apt enough name, I suppose."
"This affliction has spread fast, yet I'm not yet sure how. Most of the patients we're treating have come from North Point and Old Korvosa. The disease seems to spread fastest through the lower classes. Although we here at the temple can heal some of the ill, I fear that the spread of the disease will soon outpace our resources. The only way to stem the growing infection is to involve all the city's resources. We need to organize. We need to call upon the faiths of Sarenrae, Pharasma, and even Asmodeus to face this attack. Archbanker Tuttle and several of his assistants are out pursuing alliances with these other faiths, but even that won't be enough. We need to involve the Korvosan Guard, at the very least. And that's where I could use your help—with the number of desperate souls growing, it's not particularly safe for a priest to walk the streets of Korvosa. I hear that you have a good relationship with Field Marshal Cressida Kroft—perhaps you would be willing to escort me to Citadel Volshyenek to introduce me to her?"
"Of course I don't expect your involvement to be charity and have already cleared a generous payment of 200 gp for each of those involved in this errand."
"If you had something else you wished to say, or have any questions, please go ahead."
Ayako places the bag with the box that contained the coins on the table. We visited the gil, Brienna again tos ee if we could learn any clues about how she got sick. She said she found this box on the shore of the Jeggare and found silver coins inside. She decided to spend it at North Point. If what you said is true, then these coins are most likely connected since the disease seems centered there. Perhaps the box could be examined to make sure.
Ishtani takes the box from Ayako and casts a few spells to examine it. (Detect Magic and Detect Disease). He turns the box around in his hands to inspect all of its sides. After his inspection, he frowns and hands the box back to Ayako.
"I do not detect any magic or disease on this box. However it is badly damaged. If it was once magical, it is quite possible that the magic has dissipated from it due to its condition. As far as I can tell, it is perfectly safe to handle. But if it is as you say and the disease is being spread by coins, this could be even more difficult to contain than I originally thought. A city's economy is its lifeblood and there no telling how many hands a coin will pass between in any given day. However, this is still speculation at this point. We'll need real proof."
Lucien nods to Ishtani, carefully listening to his account. He ponders the situation for a while before chiming in. "The Master of the First Vault blessed me with immunity from disease. Only now I realize why he did that. He did that so I can protect my city from this disease. I lost both my wife and my daughter not so long ago due to a disease, and I couldn't help them. I won't forgive myself if I don't try to help as best as I can now. So yes, we'll escort you to Citadel Volshyenek. But I ask you to spend the money from my reward to heal the diseased."
Sebastian stays outside with Nadya to keep an eye on the crowd. "If Theandra and Tauk caught sick, do you suppose you and the others living at the Three Rings might be in danger?"
Perhaps this has something to do with the ship that was sunk? The box was foudn on the shore so maybe these were on the ship.
"I guess I'd be a fool not to be worried. But I can't help looking at all those sick people trying to get into the temple, I'm not sure anyone in the city is safe. We were able to help before. What do you think we can do against this?"